Developmental Psychology: Cognitive Development Flashcards
Jean Piaget
Created Cognitive Development
Cognitive Development
The theory that cognitive growth is a continuous process that exists in 4 qualitative processes
Schemata (Schema)
The way in which people organize new and old information
Adaptation
An important concept in Piaget’s cognitive development. It comes in 2 forms
2 forms of Adaptation
Assimilation & Accommodation
Assimilation
The process of interpreting new information based on existing schemata
Accommodation
The process of adapting existing schemata to fit the new information.
Sensorimotor Stage
The 1st stage in Piaget’s cognitive development which typically from birth to 2 years old. During this stage, an baby will learn primary circular reactions, secondary circular reactions and object permanence)
Primary Circular Reaction
The repeated motion where the baby is reacting to their body (ei. sucking thumb when hungry)
Secondary Circular Reaction
The repeated motion where the baby is reacting to their environment (ei. being surprised when someone disappears with peek-a-boo)
Object Permanence
The ability to make mental representations of objects when they are out of sight.
Important Concepts in Sensorimotor Stage
- Primary Circular Reaction
- Secondary Circular Reaction
- Object Permanence
Preoperational Stage
The 2nd stage in Piaget’s Cognitive Development which typically occurs between 2 and 7 years old. They can that object exist even when you can’t see them but struggle to understand a different perspective
Centration
The tendency to be able to focus on only one aspect if a phenomenon
Egocentrism
The perspective that you are the center and struggle to understand another person’s perspective.
